NIBSC has been successful (pending finalisation of contract) in obtaining over €100K research funding from EURAMET - The European Association of National Metrology Institutes. Dr Kirsty Maclellan-Gibson, Head of the Biological Imaging Group within the Division of Analytical Sciences at NIBSC, is part of a consortium of European metrological institutes, academia and commercial pharma organisations, led by Prof Ian Gilmore Head of National Physical Laboratory‘s National Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry Imaging (NiCE-MSI), who will undertake research into the measurement of antimicrobial resistance. The project to investigate and quantitate antimicrobial resistance in biofilms, will involve expertise in high pressure freezing provided by the biological imaging group. This will allow samples to be preserved in near native state, which can then be analysed by novel high end structural techniques at the other laboratories. The project achieved remarkably high ratings (19.5 out of a possible 20) in the competition for funding, highlighting both the novelty and importance of the proposed work, which is due to start in July 2016. Dr Paul Matejtschuk, who coordinates NIBSC involvement with EURAMET, was closely involved with the application and hopes that this first success will open the way for further funding opportunities for NIBSC and help to enhance our status as a Designated Institute for bioactivity within the metrology community.
The EURIPRED project (European Research Infrastructures for Poverty Related Diseases), coordinated by NIBSC, has successfully passed the midterm review assessment by the EC at the annual project meeting and is approved to continue activities until October 2017.
NIBSC are coordinating a four year EC FP7 Infrastructures project called EURIPRED as a joint venture between the divisions of Bacteriology and Virology. With 17 partners worldwide EURIPRED is working to create a single integrated European resource for vaccine, drug and microbicide research in Poverty Related Diseases (HIV, HBV, HCV, tuberculosis and malaria) with the creation of networks and partnerships between academia, biobanks and industry.
Through the EURIPRED project the successful 26 year old Centre for AIDS Reagents (CFAR) repository at NIBSC is expanding its remit to include reagents for Poverty Related Diseases (TB, malaria and hepatitis B/C). Towards this aim, NIBSC has received 117 new reagents (including proteins, viruses, peptides and microarrays). These reagents are available free of charge to European researchers through TransNational Access.
In addition to coordination of EURIPRED, NIBSC scientists are involved in all scientific activities of the project, including standardisation and harmonisation of commonly used immunological assays for assessing the potency of vaccine candidates, and the production of novel molecular clones matched to currently circulating HIV viral strains.
Visit our website for more information on EURIPRED or contact NIBSCFor more details on TNA visit website EURIPRED
NIBSC is an important partner in the global influenza vaccine field; the NIBSC Influenza Resource Centre (IRC) is embedded in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System as an Essential Regulatory Laboratory (ERL). The IRC prepares and distributes candidate vaccine viruses and reference reagents for the potency testing of vaccines and therefore plays a critical role in the prevention and control of influenza epidemics and pandemics.
The 2016 Biannual IFPMA meeting was held at the Royal College of Physicians on 26 - 27 January 2016. The NIBSC organised meeting was attended by the four international ERLs, WHO Collaborating Centres for Influenza and vaccine manufacturers. The meeting provided a forum for discussion of any issues that arise during the complex production of the annual influenza vaccine. Topics discussed ranged from up-to-date influenza surveillance data, properties of currently circulating strains, availability of candidate virus vaccines and preparation of reagents, to new research on the improvement of yields from candidate vaccine viruses. The major outcomes of the meeting are to improve all stages of influenza vaccine manufacture and to facilitate effective communication between public health bodies, WHO collaborating centres and the Pharmaceutical industry.
Visit our website for more information on Influenza
Following last October’s meeting of the ECBS , 19 new and replacement International Standards and reference reagents are now available in the NIBSC Catalogue.
New biological reference materials in 2015
NIBSC’s senior scientific staff undertake research projects in addition to their responsibilities to produce biological standards and to carry out control testing of products. Their expertise in regulatory science, and access to specialist materials and facilities at the institute, enable them to make important contributions in this field. Recent publications include the following:
Collins, M. & Thrasher, A. 2015. Gene therapy: progress and predictions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282, 20143003.
Longstaff, C., Hogwood, J., Gray, E., Komorowicz, E., Varjú, I., Varga, Z. & Kolev, K. 2016. Neutralisation of the anti-coagulant effects of heparin by histones in blood plasma and purified systems. Thrombosis and haemostasis.
Mee, E. T., Preston, M. D., Minor, P. D. & Schepelmann, S. Development of a candidate reference material for adventitious virus detection in vaccine biologicals manufacturing by deep sequencing. Vaccine.
Vipond, C., Findlay, L., Feavers, I. & Care, R. 2016. Limitations of the rabbit pyrogen test for assessing meningococcal OMV based vaccines. Altex, 33, 47.
The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) is holding a symposium in May 2016, looking at the future of biological medicines.
Register to attend the event
The symposium is being held at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London on 17 and 18 May 2016. It will provide a unique platform for cross-collaboration and discussion between industry, the public sector, academia and regulators.
Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, will be giving a keynote introductory address, with further international and leading experts presenting on:
The symposium networking dinner (which is included in the ticket price) will be held on the evening of 17 May 2016.
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